Transmitter, method, device, receiver and computer product for the wireless transmission of additional information signals
Provided is a transmitter for the wireless transmission of an additional information signal, which is configured to transmit the additional information signal in response to a control signal that corresponds to a transmission time within a guard interval of a wirelessly transmitted primary information signal originating from another transmitter, the transmitter being adapted to wirelessly transmit the additional information signal at the transmission time within the guard interval of the primary information signal. Furthermore, methods for transmitting and receiving and a corresponding receiver and computer program product are the subject of the present disclosure.
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The present invention relates to a transmitter, a method, a device, a receiver and a computer product for wirelessly transmitting and receiving additional information signals within a guard interval of another wirelessly transmitted primary information signal.
2. The Relevant TechnologyThe wireless transmission of information signals is known in the art. It is also known that guard intervals may be used in the wireless transmission of information signals to counteract negative effects on the reception quality of information signals at the receivers, which may be particularly caused by interference, reflections, or echo phenomena resulting from runtime differences in the wireless transmissions of multi-transmitter systems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is directed at enabling the wireless transmission and reception of an additional information signal to increase the overall payload data-rate.
According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a transmitter for the wireless transmission of an additional information signal, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit the additional information signal in response to a control signal that corresponds to a transmission time within a guard interval of a wirelessly transmitted primary information signal, wherein the primary information signal originates from another transmitter, and the transmitter according to the invention is adapted to wirelessly transmit the additional information signal at the transmission time within the guard interval of the primary information signal. According to the invention, the transmission of the additional information signal depends on the guard intervals or on the superposition of the guard intervals which are arranged within the primary information signal. In this regard, the term “primary information signal” is intended to refer to all kinds of information signals which are wirelessly transmitted by one or more transmitters and where the transmitter side uses guard intervals. The transmitter according to the invention is configured to transmit the additional information signal as a function of time overlaps of guard intervals of another information signal, which is designated throughout this specification as “primary information signal” for ease of reference. Here, the transmission time for transmitting the additional information signal corresponds to the guard intervals of the primary information signal. The transmitter according to the invention is thus configured in a way that a control signal which corresponds to the temporal occurrence of guard intervals of the primary information signal is processed and used for transmitting the additional information signal. Hence, the transmitter according to the invention has a control signal interface for transmitting the additional information signal and the control signal depends on the temporal occurrence of the guard intervals of the primary information signal. For clarity, the term guard interval is specified in the following, because different definitions are used in the technical literature. According to the present invention, the term guard interval refers to a time window in the information signal or primary information signal, which is used as a spacer between the symbols of the primary information signal for improved reception of the primary information signal. The guard interval may either be completely free of any symbols or signal components or comprise a proportion of signal elements.
The above-mentioned first aspect of the present invention provides the advantage that an additional information signal can be broadcasted in areas with a guard interval having a reserve. As a result, the data throughput is increased in an advantageous manner. In addition, instead of using an additional frequency range, the same frequency range of the primary information signal is more fully exploited, so that the frequency spectrum, as a resource, remains unaffected or better used. The term “reserve” means that a provisioned or upcoming guard interval may be location-wise or time-wise too large, so that in accordance with the invention, the existing reserve can be exploited in a better way.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the transmitter has a processing unit to receive and process the primary information signal and to derive the control signal corresponding to the transmission time so that the additional information signal can be transmitted at the transmission time within the guard interval of the primary information signal. In this case, a processing of the primary information signal takes place in order to detect the built-in guard intervals within the primary information signal and, based thereon, derive control signals which determine sending the additional information signal in time.
In accordance with the invention, there is also proposed a transmitter which is configured to transmit an information signal composed of parts of the primary information signal and the additional information signal, wherein the transmitter is adapted to transmit the additional information signal within the guard interval of the primary information signal. In this case, the payload of the primary information signal, in particular the symbols, is/are preferably derived from the primary information signal and transmitted with an additional information signal as a composite information signal. Thus, a new signal is generated and transmitted because not only the additional information signal but also the symbols from the primary information signal are broadcasted by the transmitter.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the transmitter has an interface for receiving an external control signal, wherein the external control signal corresponds to the transmission time within the guard interval of the primary information signal, so that the additional information signal can be sent out at the transmission time within the guard interval of the primary information signal. In this case, the transmitter according to the invention is supplied with an external control signal, such that the transmitter does not by itself detect guard intervals by receiving and processing the primary information signal. This has the advantage that a purposeful provision of the control signal takes place and also that a coupling with a transmitter transmitting a primary information signal may be realized (which is particularly relevant in the case of a single primary transmitter). In addition, the transmitter transmitting the primary information signal may also transmit a directional signal, which allows the transmitter according to the invention to transmit the additional information signal in a synchronized manner.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the transmitter is configured to emit at least one auxiliary signal within the guard interval of the primary information signal, wherein the auxiliary signal is designed to improve a receiver-side receiving, processing or recognizing of the additional information signal. Here, an auxiliary signal is envisaged, which allows for improving the reception quality of the additional information signal. To this end, known techniques, such as cyclic prefix (CP) or other types of signals may be used.
In accordance with the invention, the additional information signal and the primary information signal are furthermore substantially in the same frequency range, in particular in an OFDM-based system, such as the DVB-T standard, the LTE standard, the WiFi/WLAN standard or the DAB standard. The invention assumes that the additional information signal and the primary information signal are in the same frequency range because it may also be used for constellations which generally cause an undesired mutual interference between the additional information signal and the primary information signal, although they do not lie in the same or adjacent frequency ranges.
Furthermore, according to the invention, a method is proposed for the wireless transmission of an additional information signal, the method comprising the steps of: wirelessly transmitting the additional information signal in response to a control signal, the control signal corresponding to a transmission time within a guard interval of a wirelessly transmitted primary information signal, to transmit the additional information signal in response to the control signal. The aforementioned method may further include a step of receiving and processing the primary information signal and deriving the control signal corresponding to the guard interval from the primary information signal to wirelessly transmit the additional information signal in response to the control signal at the desired transmission time. In addition, the aforementioned methods may include a step of receiving an external control signal. Furthermore, the aforementioned methods including the associated variants and alternatives may comprise a step of transmitting an auxiliary signal, wherein the auxiliary signal is designed in such a way as to improve a receiver-side processing or recognizing of the additional information signal. Furthermore, devices are proposed which are configured to carry out one of the methods listed above, in particular a repeater, a telephone, a smart phone, a notebook, a tablet PC, a radio, a router, a WiFi/WLAN router, a gateway or a cable television headend.
According to a further aspect of the invention, a receiver for wirelessly receiving an additional information signal and a primary information signal is proposed, wherein according to the invention the additional information signal is arranged within a guard interval of the primary information signal.
Further advantageously, the receiver is adapted to process an auxiliary signal of the additional information signal within the guard interval of the primary information signal, wherein the auxiliary signal is configured such as to improve a receiver-side deriving, recognizing or processing of the additional information signal.
Further advantageously, the additional information signal and the primary information signal furthermore lie substantially in the same frequency range, in particular in an OFDM-based system, such as the DVB-T standard, the LTE standard, the WiFi/WLAN standard or the DAB standard.
Further advantageously, the receiver has a switch for selecting the additional information signal and/or the primary information signal, wherein the switch is at least partially made of hardware elements and/or software elements, and wherein the receiver is, in particular, a TV, a Smart TV, a HbbTV, a phone, a mobile phone, a smart phone, a notebook, a tablet, a smart watch or a radio. The switch can be, for example, an on-screen display, menu item and may be operable via a button or touch-sensitive.
Further according to the invention, a method is proposed for receiving a wirelessly transmitted additional information signal, the method comprising a step of receiving and deriving the additional information signal and a wirelessly transmitted primary information signal, wherein the additional information signal is arranged within a guard interval of the primary information signal, and a further step of detecting and processing the additional information signal and/or the primary information signal.
Further according to the invention, a method is proposed with a further step of receiving and processing an auxiliary signal, wherein the auxiliary signal is assigned to the additional information signal and is arranged within the guard interval of the primary information signal, in order to improve deriving, recognizing, or processing of the additional information signal. This means that the aforementioned auxiliary signal contributes to deriving, recognizing, or processing of the additional information signal and is generated and transmitted specifically for this purpose.
Further, a method is provided with a step of providing a switch for selecting the additional information signal and/or the primary information signal for processing. The switch according to the invention allows, particularly at a receiver, selecting deriving, recognizing, or processing the primary information signal and/or additional information signal.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program product embodied on a machine-readable medium implementing a method according to one of the methods proposed herein, carrying out one of the methods.
Preferably, there is the advantage that both, novel devices for processing information signals transmitted in accordance with the invention and legacy devices which are not provided with the inventive technology will be able to process corresponding signals because the primary information signal is still processable by legacy devices, as long as it is ensured that corresponding symbols can be derived from the primary information signal. In addition, devices according to the invention can process both the primary information signal and the additional information signal.
In the following, the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the figures.
Claims
1. A transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit an additional information signal, wherein the transmitter is configured to:
- receive a transmission of a first primary information signal and a transmission of a second primary information signal, wherein the first primary information signal includes a first set of guard intervals distributed between symbols of the first primary information signal and the second primary information signal includes a second set of guard intervals distributed between symbols of the second primary information signal;
- determine a time-shift exists between reception of the first primary information signal and reception of the second primary information signal, wherein the time-shift results in a partial, but not complete, overlap in time between when the first set of guard intervals occurs in the first primary information signal and when the second set of guard intervals occurs in the second primary information signal, wherein each said overlap in time constituting a time window; and
- only during each respective time window existing between one guard interval included in the first set of guard intervals and a corresponding one guard interval included in the second set of guard intervals, transmit the additional information signal in response to a control signal used to initiate transmission of the additional information signal, wherein, as a result of the time-shift, time windows are shorter in duration than guard intervals such that transmitting the additional information signal is performed during shorter time periods than time periods that are available for guard intervals.
2. The transmitter of claim 1, wherein the transmitter is configured to:
- receive and process the first primary information signal and the second primary information signal; and
- derive the control signal so that the additional information signal can be transmitted within the time windows.
3. The transmitter of claim 1, wherein the transmitter is configured to:
- transmit a composite information signal composed from parts of the first or second primary information signal and the additional information signal; and
- transmit the additional information signal within the guard intervals of the first or second primary information signal.
4. The transmitter of claim 1, wherein the transmitter has an interface for receiving an external control signal used to initiate transmission of the additional information signal.
5. The transmitter of claim 1, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit at least one auxiliary signal within one or more guard intervals of the first primary information signal, and wherein the auxiliary signal is designed to improve a receiver-side deriving, processing, or recognizing of the additional information signal.
6. The transmitter of claim 1, wherein the additional information signal and the first or second primary information signals are furthermore essentially in a same frequency range, in particular in an OFDM-based system, a DVB-T standard, an LTE standard, a WiFi/WLAN standard or a DAB standard.
7. A method for wireless transmitting an additional information signal, the method comprising:
- receiving a transmission of a first primary information signal and a transmission of a second primary information signal, wherein the first primary information signal includes a first set of guard intervals distributed between symbols of the first primary information signal and the second primary information signal includes a second set of guard intervals distributed between symbols of the second primary information signal;
- determining a time-shift exists between reception of the first primary information signal and reception of the second primary information signal, wherein the time-shift results in a partial, but not complete, overlap in time between when the first set of guard intervals occurs in the first primary information signal and when the second set of guard intervals occurs in the second primary information signal, wherein each said overlap in time constituting a time window; and
- only during each respective time window existing between one guard interval included in the first set of guard intervals and a corresponding one guard interval included in the second set of guard intervals, transmitting the additional information signal in response to a control signal used to initiate transmission of the additional information signal, wherein, as a result of the time-shift, time windows are shorter in duration than guard intervals such that transmitting the additional information signal is performed during shorter time periods than time periods that are available for guard intervals.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the method comprises the steps of:
- receiving and processing the first and second primary information signals; and
- deriving the control signal in order to wirelessly transmit the additional information signal within the time windows.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein the method comprises the steps of:
- processing the first and second primary information signals; and
- preparing and transmitting a new information signal from parts of the first or second primary information signals and the additional information signal, wherein it is envisaged to transmit the additional information signal within the time windows.
10. The method of claim 7, wherein the method comprises a step of receiving an external control signal.
11. The method of claim 7, wherein the method comprises a step of transmitting an auxiliary signal, wherein the auxiliary signal is designed in such a way as to improve a receiver-side processing or recognizing of the additional information signal.
12. A device configured to carry-out the method of claim 7, the device being a repeater, a telephone, a smart phone, a notebook, a tablet PC, a radio, a router, a WiFi/WLAN router, a gateway, or a cable television headend.
13. A receiver for wirelessly receiving an additional information signal and a primary information signal from a transmitter,
- wherein the additional information signal is arranged within a-guard intervals of the primary information signal,
- wherein the additional information signal is arranged within shortened time windows of the guard intervals such that time durations of the shortened time windows are shorter than time durations of the guard intervals,
- wherein the shortened time windows occur as a result of a time-shift that existed between reception of a first primary information signal at the transmitter, which first primary information signal includes a first set of guard intervals distributed between symbols of the first primary information signal, and reception of a second primary information signal at the transmitter, which second primary information signal includes a second set of guard intervals distributed between symbols of the second primary information symbol, the time-shift resulting in a partial, but not complete, overlap in time between when the first set of guard intervals occurs in the first primary information signal and when the second set of guard intervals occurs in the second primary information signal, each said overlap in time constituting a time window, and
- wherein the additional information signal is received by the receiver only during each respective time window existing between one guard interval included in the first set of guard intervals and a corresponding one guard interval included in the second set of guard intervals such that, as a result of the time-shift, time windows are shorter in duration than guard intervals and such that receiving the additional information signal is performed during shorter time periods than time periods that are available for guard intervals.
14. The receiver of claim 13, wherein the receiver is configured to process an auxiliary signal of the additional information signal within the guard intervals of the primary information signal, wherein the auxiliary signal is designed in such a way as to improve a receiver-side deriving, recognizing, or processing of the additional information signal.
15. The receiver of claim 13, wherein the additional information signal and the primary information signal lie substantially in a same frequency range, in particular in accordance with an OFDM-based system, a DVB-T standard, an LTE standard, a WiFi/WLAN standard or a DAB standard.
16. The receiver of claim 13, wherein the receiver has a switch for selecting the additional information signal and/or the primary information signal, wherein the switch is at least partially made of hardware elements and/or software elements.
17. A method for the wireless transmission of an additional information signal, the method comprising the following steps:
- receiving and deriving the additional information signal and a wirelessly transmitted primary information signal from a transmitter, wherein the additional information signal is arranged within a guard interval of the primary information signal, and
- detecting and processing the additional information signal and/or the primary information signal,
- wherein the additional information signal is arranged within a shortened time window of the guard interval such that a time duration of the shortened time window is shorter than a time duration of the guard interval,
- wherein the shortened time window occurs as a result of a time-shift that existed between reception of a first primary information signal at the transmitter, which first primary information signal includes a first guard interval, and reception of a second primary information signal at the transmitter, which second primary information signal includes a second guard interval, the time-shift resulting in a partial, but not complete, overlap in time between when the first guard interval occurs in the first primary information signal and when the second guard interval occurs in the second primary information signal, said overlap in time constituting the shortened time window, and
- wherein the additional information signal is received by the receiver only during the shortened time window existing between the first guard interval and the second guard interval such that, as a result of the time-shift, the shortened time window is shorter in duration than the guard interval and such that receiving the additional information signal is performed during a shorter time period than a time period that is available for the guard interval.
18. The method of claim 17, the method further comprising the following step:
- receiving and processing an auxiliary signal, wherein the auxiliary signal is assigned to the additional information signal and is arranged within the guard interval of the primary information signal, in order to improve deriving, recognizing, or processing of the additional information signal.
19. The method of claim 17, the method comprising the following step:
- providing a switch for selecting the additional information signal and/or the primary information signal for processing.
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Type: Grant
Filed: Jul 15, 2018
Date of Patent: May 25, 2021
Patent Publication Number: 20190165977
Assignee: Institut Fur Rundfunktechnik GMBH (Munich)
Inventors: Clemens Kunert (Unterfoehring), Andreas Sieber (Kirchheim), Hermann Lipfert (Oberhaching), Swen Petersen (Munich)
Primary Examiner: Hassan Kizou
Assistant Examiner: Hector Reyes
Application Number: 16/321,737
International Classification: H04L 27/26 (20060101); H04L 5/00 (20060101); H04L 25/00 (20060101); H04N 21/61 (20110101); H04W 84/12 (20090101);